334* DISCOVERIES OF 17S6 and 



north, appearing for two days always in the same 

 position and of the same form ; so that they were 

 convinced of their not being clouds. They con- 

 jectured this land to be at the distance of fifty 

 miles from them, or 290 miles nearly from Snoefell 

 Jokul. The ice was every where so firmly united 

 and of such vast extent, that they had not the 

 least hope of breaking through it ; and even if 

 they could have entered it, their temerity would 

 probably have been repaid by their ships being 

 crushed in pieces between the mountains of ice. 

 Every moment they became more and more sur- 

 rounded with ice-bergs ; and in this situation they 

 discovered an enormous log of wood, which had 

 been hewn square, and so large that it could not 

 be taken on board until it had been cut in two 

 with the saw. Several sea-gulls were perched 

 upon this log. The most remarkable circumstance 

 was that of its being mahogany, which is generally 

 too heavy to float in the water ; but the wood was 

 so worm-eaten, even to the very heart, that Mr. 

 Lowenorn conjectured its specific gravity probably 

 might have been diminished. They saw no seals, 

 nor any other sea-animals, in this part of the ocean, 

 excepting a few gulls. 



As the great mass of ice was observed to be 

 drifting towards the S.W., they determined not 

 to penetrate farther to the westward ; for should 

 they even discover some inlet in the ice through 

 which they might pass, they would at most have 

 been able to enter some bay beyond the ice, and 



